It’s Super Tuesday and a political analyst says recent developments in the Democratic primary indicate it’s likely the race will not be competitive by the time Louisianans vote on April 4th.
LSU-Shreveport Poli Sci Professor Jeff Sadow says the consolidation of candidates and the massive share of delegates up for grabs today means the race may be functionally over either by tomorrow or in the coming weeks.
“As far as Democrats voting for a presidential candidate, it’s really not going to make any difference in Louisiana,” said Sadow.
Current polling shows either Senator Bernie Sanders or former Vice President Joe Biden could gain an insurmountable lead within the next few weeks.
Louisiana usually holds it’s primary the weekend after Super Tuesday, but Sadow says we got kicked back about a month because other local elections on the ballot could lead to an inconvenient time for potential run-offs.
“This one cycle just happened to run afoul of an unusual provision in Louisiana law, and that is elections cannot occur during Easter weekend, essentially,” said Sadow.
If the primary were to be held on Saturday that would have put the run-off election for the other items on the ballot on Easter weekend.
Biden entered today with momentum thanks to a strong win in South Carolina and a series of endorsements, but Sadow says polls show Sanders putting away the race today.
“When the dust settles I think it’s probably going to be playing out the string after that, and he will end up getting the nomination,” said Sadow.
Non-Democrats have until March 14 to register online at geauxvote.com as a Democrat if they’d like to participate in the closed primary. Republicans will also be holding their closed primary on the 4th with the same rules as well.
